Wedding ring belonging to Manitoba woman’s late father stolen from jewelry store

Jessica Bednarski, with her fiancé Jeremy de las Alas and her father. (Source: Jessica Bednarski)

A Winnipeg woman has been left heartbroken after her late father’s wedding ring was stolen during a break and enter at a jewelry store in Niverville, Man.

“My dad wasn’t very materialistic; he didn’t have a lot of things,” said Jessica Bednarski. “It was the one piece I had of him.”

Bednarski and Jeremy de las Alas’ wedding is less than a month away. Their plan was to have Bednarski’s late father’s wedding ring remade into de las Alas’ wedding ring.

Bednarski was also arranging to take the three diamonds from her father’s wedding band and turn them into pendant necklaces for her mother and sisters.

However, their plan came to a halt when 88 Carats—the jewelry store that was creating the ring and necklaces—was the victim of a break and enter.

Bednarski’s father’s ring and the three pendants with the diamonds were among the stolen jewelry.

“I just remember falling to the floor in Jeremy’s arms screaming and sobbing,” Bednarski said in an interview on Sunday. “It was just the most heartbreaking thing.”

In a social media post on Thursday, 88 Carats announced that the store was “cleaned out” of its inventory. The owners said they are devastated by what’s happened and apologize to all the affected customers.

“Our entire jewelry store—our life savings, our dream, everything we’ve worked so hard to build—was taken from us in an instant,” the post said.

Bednarski emphasized the store’s owners have been extremely helpful in trying to ameliorate the situation and find the best solution possible.

“They’re victims in this just as much as we are,” she said.

“Unfortunately, they just had their trust in the world that something bad wouldn’t happen to them. Unfortunately, that came back to bite everybody, but I don’t blame them. It’s just really [bad] luck.”

Meaning of the ring

Bednarski said it’s been hard on her knowing that her father won’t be at her wedding, adding that incorporating her dad’s ring was one way she was going to honour his memory on her big day.

She noted the ring also symbolized how her father was going to be a part of her marriage moving forward.

“It meant so much to me, and it meant so much to me that Jeremy was okay with wearing my dad’s $300 ring from Ben Moss,” she said.

“It’s just that piece that was taken from me.”

Bednarski said what’s getting her through this tough time is focusing on the positive.

She added she’s received an outpouring of support from the community, with people checking in on the couple, sending food, and offering to help in any way they can.

“It’s hard when this horrible thing happens not to feel just like the world is horrible,” she said.

“We always try to see the good in people and focus on the bright side of things.”

Bednarski added that she was also hoping her father would send her a sign to show he’s not upset, and her fiancé suggested that maybe her father would come to her in her dreams.

“I hadn’t dreamt about my dad in months, and I dreamt about my dad that night,” she said. “So that also helped too.”

Hopes going forward

Moving forward, Bednarski said she hopes the owners of 88 Carats can recover from the incident.

“At the end of the day, we’re all human, and they thought the best of people, and they assumed the best in people, and they didn’t expect this to happen,” she said.

“I don’t think anyone expects this to happen. I hope their business is okay.”

Bednarski added that she hopes one day she will get her father’s ring back, and that all the other people who were affected by the theft get back their belongings.

“I hope everyone is able to get their pieces back, but if they don’t, I hope they’re able to find a solution that at least brings some comfort and peace.”